A cross-platform floating terminal and app launcher, always one shortcut away.
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- Floating terminal: toggle a full 256-color shell from anywhere with
Ctrl+Spaceby default. - Smart app launcher: scans installed apps on macOS, Linux, and Windows, with fuzzy matching and pinyin-initial search for Chinese names.
- Action bar: detects URLs, filesystem paths, and shell input; press
Cmd+Enteron macOS orCtrl+Enterelsewhere to open or run it. - Multi-monitor workflow: appears on the display you are using and can continue terminal work in your system terminal.
- Personalized settings: choose Dark, Light, or Auto theme, adjust opacity and language, and rebind shortcuts.
- Built-in updater: checks for new releases and installs them from inside the app.
Download the latest version from GitHub Releases.
| Platform | Download | Install |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | .dmg |
Open the image and drag floter to Applications. |
| Linux | .deb or .rpm |
Install with your package manager. |
| Arch / CachyOS / Manjaro | — | cd packaging/arch && makepkg -si (PKGBUILD, repackages the release .deb). |
| Windows | .exe |
Run the setup file. |
An .AppImage is published as well, for distributions none of the packages fit.
Prefer a native package where you can: the AppImage carries the GTK and WebKit
libraries it was built with, and on a rolling distribution those are older than
the graphics drivers installed on the system — which is what the EGL failure
below is usually about.
floter is not currently code-signed. If macOS reports that the app is damaged after installation, run:
xattr -cr /Applications/floter.appThen open floter again from Applications.
If the window never appears and the terminal shows something like
Could not create default EGL display: EGL_BAD_PARAMETER
then WebKitGTK could not reach the GPU. This is common on AMD hardware under Wayland with a recent Mesa.
floter notices a start that never reached its window and runs the next one without the GPU by itself, so try starting it a second time first. To decide for it:
floter --software-rendering # never use the GPU
floter --gpu # always use it, even after a failed startThe same choice is available as FLOTER_SOFTWARE_RENDERING=1 (or =0), for a
desktop entry or a service file. If software rendering does not help either,
run floter through XWayland:
GDK_BACKEND=x11 floterAnd if you are on the AppImage, install the package for your distribution instead — a WebKit built against your own system's libraries is the real fix.
floter checks for updates when it starts. When a new version is available, open Settings and choose Download & Install. floter relaunches after the update completes.
Wayland compositors manage global shortcuts. Bind the following command as a custom shortcut:
floter --toggle- GNOME: Settings → Keyboard → Custom Shortcuts
- KDE: System Settings → Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts